Heroes of the Sky
by Snake89
Summary: A novelization of Ace Combat 5 that mainly focuses on what happens in between the missions in the game. BlazeXNagase romance. Rated T for language and violence.


**_Heroes of the Sky_: An Ace Combat 5 Fanfiction**

**By Snake89**

**Prologue**

* * *

September 27, 2010 – Approximately 2100 hours. 

Blaze sat with his head in his hands. The exhaustion of the whole ordeal was finally taking its toll on him. Someone else entered the room making him look up. Kei Nagase stood in the doorway, as if asking if she could come in.

"Edge," he said softly, referring to her by her callsign. "You don't have to ask permission to go into the crew lounge you know…"

She smiled a little. "I just thought you might want to be alone right now."

Blaze slid over to the other side of the couch he was sitting on. Nagase took a seat next to him. It was only then, when he was that close to her, that he realized that it had effected her greatly as well. She slumped over slightly when she sat, and her overall appearance was not as good as it normally was. On top of all that, she looked fatigued, as if she had been awake most of the night going over the events that had transpired over the last several days. As if she would do this for hours on end, and finally pure exhaustion would take over, bringing her into a fitful and restless sleep.

He knew this because it was exactly what was happening to him.

"So…" Blaze said after a moment. "…why did you decide to come in here with boring old me?"

"To be honest," She said with a small smile and a twinkle in her eye. "Alvin wouldn't shut the hell up."

He laughed. "Yeah, I bet Hans wouldn't shut up either. I swear Chopper is a bad influence on him."

Nagase was actually smiling fully now, all of her pearly white teeth showing from her beautiful smile. A slight giggle escaped her lips as she responded, "Yeah, and look at us. We're actually enjoying ourselves through all of this." As she finished her smile faded and she looked down at her feet.

Blaze sighed. "Well, at least I got you mind off of it, if only for a moment."

She looked up, straight into his eyes and a small smile appeared on the edge of her lips once more. "Thanks" was all she could say. For several moments they both just sat there, looking into the other's eyes without even realizing it, at least for the moment. After several moments Kei blinked, unintentualy removing them from their trance. Slightly embarrassed, Kei quickly said "Ummmm…would you like some coffee?"

"Uhhh…yeah…sure that sounds great." He said, still coming out of the trance himself.

They would both wonder what happened that day. Soon enough they would find the answer, but not today.

* * *

Nagase listened to the hum of the newly started coffeepot. _"Why did I just sit there?" _She thought to herself. "_Come to think of it, why did he not do anything either?_" She just tried to put it from her mind. She concluded that they were both just tired and the fatigue had caused them to both zone out for a bit. 

Blaze had come to the same conclusion and tried to put it from his mind.

* * *

A small beeping sound filled the small crew lounge. It wasn't an uncomfortable room, in fact it was far from it. It had a couch, a couple of armchairs, coffee table, and a small kitchen attacked. Kei poured two cups of the hot liquid and walked them over to where Blaze sat. He sat as he almost always did. He was completely silent, thinking about…whatever it was he thought about. 

"Here." She said as she bent down to hand him a cup.

"Thanks." He said as he took the cup, gently blowing across the top before taking a sip of the liquid. As the cup came down from his lips he said quietly, "I can't stand this war…this god damned war, and it hasn't even been twelve hours since it began." He took another sip of his drink and then continued. "…And now that I am the squadron leader, I am expected to know what to do all the time. I'm supposed to have the experience that I don't have. I'm supposed to be the leader that I'm not…"

"That's not true Allen," Nagase said using Blaze's real name. "So far we've been in three sorties with you as our commander. Every time we go out all of us return. Not too many other commanders can say that. You have not let a single pilot, and you've been fighting pilots that are hardened veterans since the war fifteen years ago. I'll even go as far to say that you are the best pilot I've ever seen, and you know what? You're just getting started."

"Bartlett was the best pilot I've ever seen…taking on the latest MiGs with an old F-4 Phantom, hell that's at least fifty years old."

"…And he's gone because of me."

Allen looked at Kei's face. She was as white as a ghost. When she talked, she wasn't even looking at him, she just stared off into the distance."

She continued, "…Captured by the enemy…just because some stupid rookie couldn't outmaneuver a missile."

"You are _NOT_ some "stupid rookie," if I had to fly with anyone out there, including Jack, I would choose you every time. You know why? You are a loyal and trustworthy person. I can trust you with my life and the life of anyone else. Plus, you are one hell of a pilot." He added with a sincere smile.

Kei and Allen sat there for a moment, side by side on the couch. After several moments Kei wiped away a tear from her eyes and said "Here, lets just try and relax."

"Sure," He said. "Sounds good to me."

Kei picked up the TV remote control and turned on the TV. After channel surfing she switched to some movie. Neither of them later could recall anything about the movie.

After about ten minutes they both became more and more tired, even though they both had had a cup of coffee just before. After a while, she rested her head on Allen's shoulder. He didn't mind at all. Soon he could hear her breathing become shallow and her eyes close. She was asleep.

Allen didn't want to move. For one he didn't want to wake Kei, and two, he was quite content where he was. So he quietly grabbed a blanket that was folded over one of the arms of the sofa and wrapped the two of them in it.

"G…good night…Al…Allen…" She muttered.

Blaze smiled. "Good night Kei."

He quietly turned off the TV and took Kei into his arms. She subconsciously nuzzled her head onto his chest and smiled slightly. He again smiled to himself and let sleep come over him, taking the two of them from their troubles.

…For now the Heroes of the Sky could escape the horrors of war.

* * *

Well there you go. So far so good. Hey if you have anything to say about my story, ideas, comments, questions, you name it, submit a review. C'mon, don't be shy! If you like my work please check out my other fanfics located in my profile. There you can find when I am going to update my stories as well. - Snake89 


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